Phew, I escaped damage. Vincent sighed in relief. But, is this what Challenger was hoping I’ll do? Or, did I thwart any of his plans? I suppose I'll never know.

With that question still lingering in the air, Vincent made his way back to the minions.

Upon arrival, he found his army devastated. That’s to be expected after a meteor-level slam crashed upon them.

And yet, all of them still lived. It was partially thanks to Knight's Chivalry passive that boosted their defense.

As the lord governing this land, it is my duty to protect my soldiers. Vincent puffed his chest despite the fact he didn't lift a finger in that whole ordeal. He passively emitted an aura that granted the defense buff, nothing more.

Jests aside, I must figure out how to proceed from here. Vincent knotted his brows. This is a tricky situation.

Until a few moments ago, Vincent had been in total control of the lane. Chivalry bolstered the defense of his minions by a flat amount, which was incredibly impactful during the early game. It put Vincent ahead in the laning race even without him spending his skills to that end.

However, that fully charged Barbarian Slam changed everything. It dealt enough damage to even the playing field in one fell swoop.

In fact, it did more than evening the odds thanks to the slam’s stun effect. If the two of them continue farming this wave with just basic attacks, Challenger shall emerge victorious in this exchange.

However, I also possess a Noble Phantasm that can turn the tides of battle! Vincent declared boldly. It's called Justice of Knighthood - Unstoppable Shield Bash!

Or basically, just Shield Bash. Truly, a name so simplistic it could make one cry. Hopefully, the criminal responsible for approving such a trite skill name was booted out of the design team for committing this atrocity.

But regardless of the terrible name, if I borrow the power of the skill here, then I shall be able to shift the tides of battle in my favor! Vincent proclaimed. What's more, with Justice of Knighthood - Vallant Sword Strike, I may claim further advantage and demolish the enemy's entire lineup!

Honestly, naming the follow-up "Blade Swing" was an even greater crime than the already bad “Shield Bash”. It’s as if the design team wasn’t even trying at this point. Truly, a disgrace to the art of skill naming!

But for better or worse, the terrible skill names did not reflect the skills’ actual strength. They were very capable tools that would assist Vincent in gaining a great advantage here!

Alas, he would have to gain said advantage at the expense of throwing away his best escape tool. And, since he executed a Dodge Roll just a second ago, it meant Vincent won’t have any means to create distance between himself and his opponent if anything happens.

Though his Barbarian Meteor Slam is off the table for now, I cannot allow myself to be careless. There is always the possibility of him entering Berserk mode and choosing violence.

Even though Barbarian Slam ate away at Challenger's Rage meter, it was a no-brainer for this savage class to refill it. Berserker gained Rage for each strike he delivered and his swings grew faster and faster by the moment. Surely, his Rage meter was shooting through the roof at this very moment.

On top of that, Berserker gained even more Rage from getting hit by enemies. So, in case Vincent unleashes his Justice of Knighthood arts and gains the upper hand in battle, it will result in his minions aggressing on the Berserker and giving him Rage free of charge.

With all of that combined, surely this gentleman will be able to transform into the manifestation of pure rage and unleash his fury on the land! And, Vincent would be left with no means to escape from that mighty typhoon!

I cannot say I like that hypothetical scenario, not at all. Vincent shook his head. I've had enough misfortunes befall me for a single game. I shall farm slowly and safely for now.

And so, Vincent stayed his hand for this round. He didn't unleash Shield Bash and instead hacked away at the enemy soldiers with simple slashes. He was fully aware that this weak routine was going to result in his opponent's victory, yet he continued farming slowly but safely.

For his opponent, this was yet another disappointing turn of events.

Bruh, you’re still not gonna use your skills? Ronald raised an eyebrow. Aren't you misjudging the situation here? Like, hello? I'm totally gonna win the exchange at this rate.

And, he really did. Ronald eliminated all the enemy soldiers while keeping all his bowmen remained alive. This was the consequence of Blackhole’s passiveness.

Aaaaand he's already retreating. Ronald sighed. Seriously, it's one disappointment after another with this guy.

The more time passed, the dimmer and dimmer Ronald’s fighting spirit grew. InformationBlackhole was nothing but one huge disappointment so far.

Was this weakling really a part of Stratus, a team strong enough to win a game off the Leopards? Or, maybe the whole thing was just a fluke? Maybe none of these guys was anything to write home about???

"My, is that a sigh I spy with my little eye?" Cato asked. "What happened to that gung-ho attitude you had when the game started?"

"Meh, I'm just not feeling it anymore." Ronald shrugged. "This guy is a pushover. I thought I'd finally get to fight a real bruh in Top, but this ain't it, chief."

"My, such blatant underestimation."

"But, am I not right, though? This guy is clearly a pushover. Even when he has good opportunities, he's wussing out on them."

"These all might be parts of a greater plan," Cato suggested. "Maybe he's playing like this to make you lower your guard. And, judging by your attitude, I’d say he’s pretty successful at that."

"You’re saying he did all that on purpose? Nah, pretty sure he's just that bad." Ronald asserted. "I mean, he didn't even leave much of an impression back when he watched their previous scrim. Like, didn't we agree he's pretty mediocre? Sonya, what's this guy's score, again?"

"It's 5/8/8," Sonya answered. "The overall score is definitely above average for this region."

To maintain a good point of reference against the region’s average skill level, Sonya defined a score of 5/10 on her list as “the average score for this region”. As such, anything above 5/10 meant that the player possessed “above average” skill.

With this metric, a score of 8/10 was actually rather high. It meant the player was far above average in that particular category.

In that sense, Blackhole's score of 5/8/8 was notably above the region’s average. His mechanical skill was mediocre, but his decision-making and game knowledge were very solid, at least based on the data thus far.

Nonetheless, in the end, this score was just "above average". Compared to the members of the Leopards, it was indeed fair to consider Blackhole underwhelming.

"Man, I knew it." Ronald shook his head. "That 5/10 is for his mechanical skill, right? Yep, this bruh is as average as they get. I mean, I got a whooping 10/10 in that category!" He puffed his chest.

"His decision-making is a notch above yours, however," Sonya pointed out.

"Meh, just by a little, right? Isn't mine like 7/10 or something?"

"Yes, it is. At least, usually, it is..."

"My, my, my," Cato interjected. "I sense regrets in that voice. Did you miscalculate when you gave him that 7/10?"

"Ronald is... difficult to frame with numbers.” Sonya sighed. “His numbers fluctuate from game to game. For example, sometimes his mechanical skill looks like 10/10 but other times it's just around 8/10. The same applies to his decision-making"

"Then, how did you assign his final numbers?"

"Using the most straightforward method: weighted average. I took samples from notable high-level Ranked games and did a weighted average of his performance across those."

"And this is the result, huh." Cato nodded in understanding.

Frankly, Ronald didn't deserve these numbers. Across the many Ranked games they played together, there were a few occasions when all of Ronald's stats dropped through the floor. Yes, the brat was just BAD in every sense of the word.

However, if Sonya only took samples from the "hard" Ranked matches, then it made sense for the weighted average to look the way it did. After all, Ronald performed his best when facing strong opponents. That's also the reason why he started this game with a bang.

Ronald's suggestion to go for an early invade panned out very well. On top of that, his plays in the lane were well-thought-out and efficient.

Judging by this particular instance, Ronald could easily convince anybody that he was a competent player who deserved to play on the Leopards’ first-string. And, as frustrating as it was to admit, this whippersnapper really possessed the necessary skill, but only when he was willing to fully unleash it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t very common.

All that sighing Ronald foreshadowed a decline in his performance. Once this brat grew bored of his opponent, his focus always slipped away and he started underestimating all his opponents.

Naturally, what followed next was careless plays and reckless overextension. That's why Cato had to step in now before it was too late...